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Monday, January 20, 2014

Agony. For.... who? Me.

I am starting to try and make it a habit. I'm keeping a Bible at my work space. When I have a moment, I'm aiming to read it.

Today, I felt driven to God's word.

I didn't really care where I ended up in it's pages, I was just hungry for the food that comes from it's black or red ink on off-white pages...

I happened to fall upon the red ink.

John 16 & 17, to be exact. One of my favorite passages. Maybe yours, too.

I've been trying to just take a look at a couple verses, and then ponder them. It seems to do more good than just reading as though it's a story book.

I read through the end of chapter 16. My favorite verse at the end, it thrilled me with Jesus' care for me.

But chapter 17 is where I got stuck. That chapter always makes me stand back in awe...

You know what I saw?

I saw this missionary, who happened to be the God of the universe.

I saw Him there, pleading with Hid Father. I could feel the sense of desperateness. He runs through His spotless life. Tells the Father how He'd shared the word. Manifested His Father's name. What more could He do?

Then He thinks of the coming reality. He's going back to Heaven. And His friends on Earth... they're not. Yet.

And He prays for them. Earnestly entreating help on their behalf. He sees the storm about to break upon them...

"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil."

Imagine His heart-rending agony, anticipating what His people will face. He sees Peter. He sees me. He sees you, too.

He's about to make the ultimate sacrifice. And He, the God of the Universe, is driven to His knees, pleading with His Father for aid. Not for Himself. For them.

And I sit in shame...

If He felt driven to His knees... my Lord & my God.

What am I doing? Do I feel that burden? Am I willing to spend all night in prayer? I might say yes, because it sounds good. But when the rubber meets the road, am I even willing to spend the time in prayer for my friends, let alone the Billions who will likely never know the one who is my best Friend, (or at least should be)?

Do I even put the care into my own soul that is required of me?

Interesting lessons from a couple verses.

But most prominent in my mind, drowning all else, is the amazing love of my Jesus. Compare it. Try it.

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Press on...

"The humble, self-denying life of our divine Lord we are to keep constantly in view. And then as we seek to imitate Him, keeping our eye upon the mark of the prize, we can run this race with certainty, knowing that if we do the very best we can we shall certainly secure the prize. . . ."

--In Heavenly Places, pg. 276.

This blog's inspiration...

"The greatest want of the world is the want of men--men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall."